Drinking Dangers when Traveling

October 23, 2015

Admit it most of us drink alcohol, wine, at least, when we travel. Wine is part of the meal experience and on some trips like Paris for the Holidays we include it. Drinking alcohol when you are traveling, comes with some serious cautions!!!!!

Some Do’s and some dangerous Don’ts.

Do enjoy a drink on the plane if it helps you relax. Secure important items like money, passport, docs, ipad so no one can intrude if you fall asleep. That might mean actually pushing your money container inside your pants and locking up your ipad in your overhead bag. Obviously never leave anything important behind, when you go to the bathroom as you should also be drinking lots of H2O.

Do not drink and talk politics or religion in bars even in a nice hotel bar. In many countries, conversations like these can become volatile when mixed with alcohol. I had this experience in a British pub, with a polite young man. It became a threatening situation, as he drank and the theme turned to the IRA and American assistance.

Hotel bars can be part of the hotel experience. If you can, go with another woman from our group. If you cannot, take a newspaper, or printed materials so you can ‘escape’ if you are harassed. Sit at the bar so the bar tender can help. Never hesitate to ask staff for help.

Do not drink before you use a business center. Some women, after a tour, will have a casual drink, then go to answer emails. It is not uncommon for them to forget to log off.

Never drink if you intend to wander from the hotel in a city where signs are in another alphabet: China? India? Ethiopia? It is hard enough to find your way back when you can read the signs. Carry a card with the hotel’s address. Shopping after a drink brings its own cautions like leaving your wallet behind or being given out of date currency you are not sharp enough to recognize.

Honestly speaking, some women like more than 1-2 drinks. If so, do it in your hotel not in one of the restaurants our group uses. You can forget your wallet, glasses, camera or get separated from the group on the stroll back.

Some tips for women who love to travel and have earned that glass of wine.